high fives

you're doing great 🙌🏼

Unlike my co-founder Kristin, I loathed running.

As a redhead with a propensity to faint in the heat, the prospect of sweating my way through miles of trails I could just assume walk in sounded horrible.

I run 4x a week now and my position on running has shifted for two reasons. One, it's super helpful for emotional regulation. To quote Elle Woods, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.”

So, there's that.

The second reason is friends. Specifically, super athletic runner friends, who I was shocked to discover are your biggest cheerleaders. I assumed they'd be hyper-critical and irritated by how slow and out of breath I was, but the opposite happened.

My friend Courtney forced me to run with her regularly and she spoke the entire time while I heaved my way through the 700 miles we ran (it was not 700 it was probably five, but it felt like 700).

Here's what changed things for me: Courtney would say randomly, "You're doing great." "Nice job." "Keep it up, just a few minutes left." "You got this." And it didn't feel like fluff; she was encouraging me at the exact moments I was ready to call it quits.

There's something about having been in the arena yourself that makes you less critical of those on the path. You recognize the signs of growth, effort, and persistence. You understand that progress is made in turtle steps and that imperfect and in progress is the only way forward.

I felt proud of myself when I finished those runs. Even with bad form, zero endurance, multiple stops, sweating profusely, and being so out of breath I couldn't speak. Today, I have almost none of those issues. And when I see other runners going slowly and barely breathing, I think, "Good job, keep going."

The great thing about running is that we see other runners. They pass by and wave in solidarity.

The pros run marathons in two hours and change. Back-of-the-pack folks take six hours or more. Both types of runners ask, “How do you do that?!”

The back-of-the-pack folks can’t imagine running so fast.

The pros can’t imagine running for so long.

There’s respect, maybe even awe.

The challenge with creative work is that we rarely see others doing it. Tinker around with writing a poem after the kids go to bed and no one knows it but you. It feels silly to tell someone you did it; plus, you’d never dream of asking for kudos from people who don’t stay up late writing words that rhyme even though the effort it took to sit down and actually write them is worthy of applause.

The hard part is that there’s no way for other late-night poets to wave at you in solidarity and say keep going.

Unless you find a place with other late night poets. (We happen to know one…)

I thought I needed more discipline to be a better, more consistent runner. Turns out what I needed was encouragement.

Don’t underestimate the value of a high five.

You’re doing great. Keep going.

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